Improved stay or brace for boots and shoes



@hitch faire garant @frn TIMOTHY K. REED, OF AEAST BRIDGEWATER, ASSIGN-OR THROUGH MESNE ASSIGNMENTS TO S. J. SHAW AND THOMAS OOREY.

Lam Patent No. 65,829, ma .me 18, 1867.

IMPROVED STAY OR BRAOE FOR BOOTS AND SHOES.

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Beit known that l', TIMOTHY K. REED, of East Bridgewater, county of Plymouth, and State of Massachusetts, have invented a Stay or Brace for Balmoral Boots and Shoes; and I do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawings which accompany andform part ofthis specification, is a description of my invention sufficient to enable those skilled in the art to practise it. l

j j lIn those shoes which open directlyl in front from the ankle toward the toe for the reception and withdrawal of the foot, and in which the sides of the opening are suitably drawn together, as by a lacing, for example, the style or out being that generally now known as the Balmoral boot or shoe, the material of the vamp is apt to tear at the angle whore the sides of the opening unite, and this tearing is liable to commence during the process 'of manufacture, as well as in the daily use of the finished article.

To avoid this liability, and thus increase the durability of said cut or style of boots and shoes, is the object of my invention, which consists in the securing of a stay or brace of metal or other suitable material to the vamp directly at and over the anglo formed at thejuncture of the divided parts of the vamp, in such manner as to prevent tearing apart of the vamp or the elongation of the front slit therein, without first either tearing or fracturing the stay or brace itself, or tearing it away from its fastenings to the vamp.

My invention is shown in the drawing, which represents inplan a Balmoral boot or shoe with the stay or brace secured to the vamp at the juncture or angle of the sides of the slit. V The brace or stay may be of any desired ornamental form, and may be secured to thevamp by small rivets, which are clenched on the inside of the shoe after'passing through both stay and vamp. Eyelets might be used to secure the stay to the vamp, or small prongs or points might be made of the material of the stay itself, and inserted through and clenched on the inside of the vamp, or the stay might be otherwise variously fastened.

Besides the advantage of increased durability attained inthe use of my invention, lit has another use in l concealing the imperfect manner in which the binding of the edges of the vamp is turned at the angle or juncture of the sides of the slit, it being diilicult to secure the binding neatly at this placeand consequently the stay adds to the neatncss of the finish of the shoe.

In the drawing hereinbefore referred to, the lacing slit or opening of the upper to which the brace is applied is shown at a, as made in the usual manner inthe upper A, and as provided with two series of lacing holes, b b, b The brace is represented .at B as so arranged as not only to cover the vertex of the slit, but to project some distance both above and below it. By this arrangement of the brace or stay .it caps `over the vertex, and thus saves the necessity of turning the binding at the junction of the slit. It allows of the binding of each edge of the slit being separat-e from that of the other, and terminated at a short distance from the vertex, thus avoiding the corrugating or creasing of the binding at the vertex, and the unpleasant consequences which frequently result therefrom to the wearer of the shoe. What I claim as my invention is as follows, viz: The application or arrangement of a metallic brace, stay, or cap, with respect to the junction of the sides of the slit in the upper of a Balmoral boot or shoe, as herein described.

Also, as an improved manufacture, a Balmoral boot or shoe as provided With a stay, brace, or cap, arranged with respect to the junction of the sides of the slit of its upper, as hereinbefore explained.

In witness whereof` I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day of May, A. D. 1864.

T. K. REED.

Witnesses J." B. CROSBY, F. G'oULD. 

